10 Real Ale Facts

11:44 22 February 2011

10 Real Ale Facts

Real ale is defined by CAMRA as beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide

There are 2,500 different real ales in the UK and 3,000 pubs stocking them

There are currently 8.6 million regular drinkers of real ale inthe country

Thats 31 per cent of all beer drinkers

Although traditionally associated with beardy men, 32 per cent of women have now tried realale

Once people have tried real ale, they stick with it (it has a conversion rate of 40 per cent).

121,000 people began regularlydrinking real ale during the last year Although traditionally associated with older men the number of18 to 24-year-old real ale drinkers grew by 17 per cent last year

There are now more than 700 real ale brewers in the UK, the highest number since the war and four times as many as in 1971 (whenCAMRA was launched).

Despite having a reputation forstrength, real ales come in manyforms. At the lower end are theMilds, which have strengths ofaround 3.5 per cent. At the higher are the powerful Old Alesand Winter Warmers, whosestrengths can reach as high as10 or 11 per cent.

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